What is high blood pressure?
When the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels, is consistently too high.
When the heart beats, it creates pressure that pushes blood through a network of tube-shaped blood vessels, which include arteries, veins and capillaries.
This pressure — blood pressure — is the result of two forces:
1. The first force (systolic pressure) occurs as blood pumps out of the heart and into the arteries.
2. The second force (diastolic pressure) is created as the heart rests between heart beats.
The damage starts in your arteries and heart
The primary way that high blood pressure causes harm is by increasing the workload of the heart and blood vessels.
-Damages the delicate tissues inside the arteries.
-LDL (bad) cholesterol forms plaque along tiny tears in the artery walls
-Start of atherosclerosis (narrowing of the blood vessel due to build up of plaque in the walls of the arteries)
The more the plaque and damage increases, the narrower (smaller) the insides of the arteries become — raising blood pressure. This can ultimately lead to heart attack, stroke or PAD.
Result of years of high blood pressure
Too Lower Blood Pressure:
Limit Sodium intake to less than 2,000 mg per day
Exercise at least 30 minutes per day
Eat a plant-based diet and limit intake of high-fat foods
Lose weight if over weight
Limit alcohol consumption
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